Implements, such as lawn mowers and snow blowers, are typically powered by a prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine. The engine also includes a transmission driving ground engaging drive wheels that propel the implement in a forward and reverse direction. Changing direction or speed of the implement requires bringing the implement to a complete halt and operating a gear lever to change the ratio of the transmission, such that the implement moves in a different direction or at a different ground speed.
When the path of the implement encounters numerous obstacles, the operator must change the speed and/or direction of the implement numerous times severely impacting the operator efficiency. Moreover, the transmission typically has a fixed number of selectable gear ratios which limits the available ground speeds the implement can achieve. As a result, the operator cannot always tailor the ground speed of the implement to a desired ground speed appropriate for the operating conditions.